The Briefing
The Coalition of Ordered Governments has gathered high intelligence on the whereabouts of a Locust mining facility near Jacinto.The COG will do its best to keep its participating soldiers and citizens on high alert. However, a problem has occurred within the plans of this operation. The Locust mining facility within the vicinity of Jacinto, through forms of higher intelligence, has defenses on all sides, making it nearly impossible to penetrate and eliminate. Thus, a new project has been created. COG's proudly represented Gamma Squad has volunteered themselves towards our cause and will be our first testers. The objective of our project is to create a device that will allow Gamma Squad to enter the facility from the air with extreme devastation, and little warning. This means that our soldiers will have to land in the middle of the mining region very fast. Mass and volume of the pod will have to be considered when creating this capsule as their values must be low in order to strike fast and hard. In order to replicate this mode of transportation, Gamma Squad will create a drop pod big enough to fit an egg within. The egg will represent an individual COG conscript while the encasing around the egg will act as the squad's drop pod. Feel free to follow us as we conquer our underground dwellers and eliminate the greatest threat to humanity.
Product Planning and Prototypes
Design # 1
Our first prototype was not very successful. However, it did give us a broader understanding on how to launch our soldiers to the battlefield safely and readily. The first prototype consisted of a regular 2 L pop bottle insulated with large amounts of cushioning. The egg however broke within as it hit the sides of the plastic bottle. The cushioning helped to prevent the egg from coming in contact with the top and bottom of the bottle, but it did not prevent the egg from hitting the sides of the bottle (which are significantly thinner). Due to the hard plastic used to create the bottle's unique shape, the egg constantly broke and our tests for this prototype were deemed unsuccessful.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 2
For our second prototype, we created only a rough sketch. The sketch did not, however, make it to the construction part of the operation. This particular prototype possessed many components dealing with water. For this model, we planned on utilizing a 2 L bottle. However, instead of using cushioning, we planned on using water within a balloon/elastic material, with two bodies of liquid within the bottle. One would be located at the top of the bottle while the other would be placed at the bottom. The containment of these bodies of water would be achieved by a wall of elastic material (such as a balloon). Then, as the capsule dropped, the egg would bounce off of the elastic surface and would never come in contact with the bottle's hard plastic. Nonetheless, this idea was too complex and too difficult to contain water within, and so it was assumed a failure. This idea did not leave the drawing board.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 3
In our third prototype, we produced another sketch and rough physical prototype. This time, our capsule was shaped as a cube. In this particular idea, the cube would provide protection on all sides as it was created through the use of multiple materials. On the outermost part of the cube, straws would be used to help provide a solid wall between the egg and the surface of contact. These solid walls of straws would measure out to approximately 0.75 cm. Behind all 6 cube walls, an area of cotton balls would be utilized in an effort to provide a cushioning action for the egg within. Another wall of straws would be used after roughly 3 cm of cotton, thus creating a cube within a cube. However, we found that the multiple straw walls created a somewhat unstable structure that may break/come apart after multiple drops. The plastic used to create the straws were also somewhat hard for the eggshell, and therefore could possibly crack the egg. For Gamma Squad, broken eggs mean broken legs!
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 4
During the design of our fourth prototype, we attempted to keep things much simpler. Both our ideas and materials used were very basic. The overall shape of our fourth prototype was intended to be the shape of a trapezoid. This structure was influenced by the amount of pressure that was placed upon the egg. We discovered that the value of pressure placed on the egg would be equal to the force on the egg divided by the surface area. Therefore, we used a trapezoid as one of its sides possess a large surface area and would therefore spread out the amount of force on the egg. The base surface area is 15 cm long, which is big enough to obtain very low pressure when impacting the ground. This value is double of the top surface area's length. Moreover, the entire trapezoid was to be created through the use of a very large, continuous sponge, which would absorb and dissipate the forces of sudden impact. However, our capsule was ultimately not guaranteed to fall on the same side every single drop (the larger side), and was thus a somewhat risky and pointless investment. This plan did not participate in the final construction operation.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 5
Our final prototype, was our most successful one. The plan was based off of the materials and ideas used in both prototypes three and four. We merged these two prototypes together and produced a cube shaped pod that was made entirely out of sponges. Held together by hot glue that 'froze' the sponges together, this overall box ensured the survival of the egg. The sponges greatly absorbed the shock of the impact, while protecting the egg within (which was put into a custom spherical pocket). We ran it through various test runs in which different motions were applied to the capsule. The pictures of this prototype can be found below this paragraph. So far, nothing has come up to be detrimental to the egg in any way. This was the design used when participating in the final test on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, when it was dropped from a height of 3 stories. Was our spongy cube the drop pod to save humanity? Read below to find out more!
RESULT - SUCCESS!
Our first prototype was not very successful. However, it did give us a broader understanding on how to launch our soldiers to the battlefield safely and readily. The first prototype consisted of a regular 2 L pop bottle insulated with large amounts of cushioning. The egg however broke within as it hit the sides of the plastic bottle. The cushioning helped to prevent the egg from coming in contact with the top and bottom of the bottle, but it did not prevent the egg from hitting the sides of the bottle (which are significantly thinner). Due to the hard plastic used to create the bottle's unique shape, the egg constantly broke and our tests for this prototype were deemed unsuccessful.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 2
For our second prototype, we created only a rough sketch. The sketch did not, however, make it to the construction part of the operation. This particular prototype possessed many components dealing with water. For this model, we planned on utilizing a 2 L bottle. However, instead of using cushioning, we planned on using water within a balloon/elastic material, with two bodies of liquid within the bottle. One would be located at the top of the bottle while the other would be placed at the bottom. The containment of these bodies of water would be achieved by a wall of elastic material (such as a balloon). Then, as the capsule dropped, the egg would bounce off of the elastic surface and would never come in contact with the bottle's hard plastic. Nonetheless, this idea was too complex and too difficult to contain water within, and so it was assumed a failure. This idea did not leave the drawing board.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 3
In our third prototype, we produced another sketch and rough physical prototype. This time, our capsule was shaped as a cube. In this particular idea, the cube would provide protection on all sides as it was created through the use of multiple materials. On the outermost part of the cube, straws would be used to help provide a solid wall between the egg and the surface of contact. These solid walls of straws would measure out to approximately 0.75 cm. Behind all 6 cube walls, an area of cotton balls would be utilized in an effort to provide a cushioning action for the egg within. Another wall of straws would be used after roughly 3 cm of cotton, thus creating a cube within a cube. However, we found that the multiple straw walls created a somewhat unstable structure that may break/come apart after multiple drops. The plastic used to create the straws were also somewhat hard for the eggshell, and therefore could possibly crack the egg. For Gamma Squad, broken eggs mean broken legs!
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 4
During the design of our fourth prototype, we attempted to keep things much simpler. Both our ideas and materials used were very basic. The overall shape of our fourth prototype was intended to be the shape of a trapezoid. This structure was influenced by the amount of pressure that was placed upon the egg. We discovered that the value of pressure placed on the egg would be equal to the force on the egg divided by the surface area. Therefore, we used a trapezoid as one of its sides possess a large surface area and would therefore spread out the amount of force on the egg. The base surface area is 15 cm long, which is big enough to obtain very low pressure when impacting the ground. This value is double of the top surface area's length. Moreover, the entire trapezoid was to be created through the use of a very large, continuous sponge, which would absorb and dissipate the forces of sudden impact. However, our capsule was ultimately not guaranteed to fall on the same side every single drop (the larger side), and was thus a somewhat risky and pointless investment. This plan did not participate in the final construction operation.
RESULT - FAILURE
Design # 5
Our final prototype, was our most successful one. The plan was based off of the materials and ideas used in both prototypes three and four. We merged these two prototypes together and produced a cube shaped pod that was made entirely out of sponges. Held together by hot glue that 'froze' the sponges together, this overall box ensured the survival of the egg. The sponges greatly absorbed the shock of the impact, while protecting the egg within (which was put into a custom spherical pocket). We ran it through various test runs in which different motions were applied to the capsule. The pictures of this prototype can be found below this paragraph. So far, nothing has come up to be detrimental to the egg in any way. This was the design used when participating in the final test on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, when it was dropped from a height of 3 stories. Was our spongy cube the drop pod to save humanity? Read below to find out more!
RESULT - SUCCESS!
Proposed Design Diagrams + Pictures
The cross-section of Diagram # 3 is seen below, with two layers of straw walls that are cushioned in between by cotton.
* NOT USED
* NOT USED
The cross-section diagram of Design # 4 is seen below, with the entire prototype consisting of a single, cut out sponge without a lid (yikes!).
* NOT USED
The cross-section diagram of Design # 5 is seen below, with each rectangle representing the side of a sponge. Note that the upper three sponges act as a singular lid, and the lower five sponges act as a singular base.
* USED AS CHOSEN DESIGN
Elements And Reasons
Elements (materials) used in the final design were as follows, with reasons:
- Sponges: Used to greatly absorb the impact caused by the capsule's sudden stop after a constant acceleration
- Hot Glue: Used to melt the sponges together, allowing eight sponges to act as two pieces (one for the base and one for the lid)
- Plastic bags: Used to keep any possible messes separate from the actual device, which could be changed/improved without egg yolk (yuck!).
NOTE: The simplicity of this design relies on the fact that only these few materials were incorporated ^. The mass is also kept very low, and any addition of materials may simply interfere with a design that is already working so well.
- Sponges: Used to greatly absorb the impact caused by the capsule's sudden stop after a constant acceleration
- Hot Glue: Used to melt the sponges together, allowing eight sponges to act as two pieces (one for the base and one for the lid)
- Plastic bags: Used to keep any possible messes separate from the actual device, which could be changed/improved without egg yolk (yuck!).
NOTE: The simplicity of this design relies on the fact that only these few materials were incorporated ^. The mass is also kept very low, and any addition of materials may simply interfere with a design that is already working so well.
Testing
Our final prototype was tested many times in different ways and was successful (resulting in the egg being safe).
This involved attempting to replicate the final velocity of the capsule by throwing the egg up from the ground (allowing it to fall from a height of 2 - 3 stories), throwing the egg at a wall, and even playing with the capsule!
The testing video can be seen below:
This involved attempting to replicate the final velocity of the capsule by throwing the egg up from the ground (allowing it to fall from a height of 2 - 3 stories), throwing the egg at a wall, and even playing with the capsule!
The testing video can be seen below:
Gamma Squad Task Distriibution
All group assignments to be completed/brought together on: Sunday October 16, 2011
All website work should be completed by: Friday, October 21, 2011
- Jay: 4.5 hours - Materials (sponges, popsicles), Diagram Creation, Design Reports, Theme Creation
- Vithun: 4 hours - Materials (tape, glue sticks), Website Design, Elements and Reasons, Blog Creation
- Rahul: 4.5 hours - Materials (cotton balls, straws), Website Introduction, Video Editing, Blog Updates
- Maarij: 4.5 hours - Materials (eggs, glue guns), Final Capsule Construction, Design Development, Contact Form
All website work should be completed by: Friday, October 21, 2011
- Jay: 4.5 hours - Materials (sponges, popsicles), Diagram Creation, Design Reports, Theme Creation
- Vithun: 4 hours - Materials (tape, glue sticks), Website Design, Elements and Reasons, Blog Creation
- Rahul: 4.5 hours - Materials (cotton balls, straws), Website Introduction, Video Editing, Blog Updates
- Maarij: 4.5 hours - Materials (eggs, glue guns), Final Capsule Construction, Design Development, Contact Form
Performance Outcome and calculations
Our egg capsule was successful in keeping the egg safe and secure.
Both trials on the egg were completed on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, and the egg remained intact.
The fact that the egg remained secure will ensure the safety of any COG conscript.
During the experiment, the egg was dropped from a height slightly less than the third floor of our school. The instructor counted down the drop, and the time taken to fall was recorded by two group members (with the average time listed below).
Please see the following video of the actual egg drop:
Both trials on the egg were completed on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, and the egg remained intact.
The fact that the egg remained secure will ensure the safety of any COG conscript.
During the experiment, the egg was dropped from a height slightly less than the third floor of our school. The instructor counted down the drop, and the time taken to fall was recorded by two group members (with the average time listed below).
Please see the following video of the actual egg drop:
The calculations relevant to our project are listed below.
NOTE: The first box lists all our given information.
NOTE: The first box lists all our given information.
It must be noted that our capsule's average acceleration is slightly lower than the expected acceleration of gravity near earth's surface. This makes perfect sense to us because our device was made of sponge which has a large surface area, prone to more air resistance than other aerodynamic designs. This resulted in a slower falling time for our capsule, and thus, a lower acceleration. We anticipated a somewhat slower falling time when making our capsule because of its small mass and larger volume.
If our observed acceleration was higher than acceleration near earth's surface, than our observed time results would have been less than what they should have been (due to an objective in this project being 'fast falling time', and group members attempting to stop the timer as quickly as possible). The device could also have been accelerated on launch (meaning it was pushed slightly when dropped).
However, our results seem to be true and make sense, and our capsule took an average of 1.32 s to reach the bottom. The expected time (as seen in the last calculation above) is 1.3 s, but this is without any air resistance. In reality (as explained above), the RubixSponge was slightly slower than an object free falling without any resistance.
If our observed acceleration was higher than acceleration near earth's surface, than our observed time results would have been less than what they should have been (due to an objective in this project being 'fast falling time', and group members attempting to stop the timer as quickly as possible). The device could also have been accelerated on launch (meaning it was pushed slightly when dropped).
However, our results seem to be true and make sense, and our capsule took an average of 1.32 s to reach the bottom. The expected time (as seen in the last calculation above) is 1.3 s, but this is without any air resistance. In reality (as explained above), the RubixSponge was slightly slower than an object free falling without any resistance.
Modifications and Reasons
Overall, our egg capsule was successful in keeping the egg safe.
However, it did have some flaws. Some of these included a high volume, a medium mass, and a fairly slow falling time. In order to maximize the efficiency of the pod, we must apply some modifications. These may include:
- Lowering the number of sponges used in our egg capsule, or cutting off some excess material due to the unnecessary amounts of padding on our product (which may have kept the egg too safe).
- Placing a thin coating of cotton around the egg within the capsule to ensure a second layer of protection against any hard falls, as the outside protection would have been decreased in size.
When put all together, a much more sturdy, lightweight, fast, and efficient egg pod will be created.
The videos below show our members speaking about our general performance outcome and the above modifications.
However, it did have some flaws. Some of these included a high volume, a medium mass, and a fairly slow falling time. In order to maximize the efficiency of the pod, we must apply some modifications. These may include:
- Lowering the number of sponges used in our egg capsule, or cutting off some excess material due to the unnecessary amounts of padding on our product (which may have kept the egg too safe).
- Placing a thin coating of cotton around the egg within the capsule to ensure a second layer of protection against any hard falls, as the outside protection would have been decreased in size.
When put all together, a much more sturdy, lightweight, fast, and efficient egg pod will be created.
The videos below show our members speaking about our general performance outcome and the above modifications.
This side-by-side comparison shows the prototype used in our final testing and our modified design (if we were to perform the experiment again).
Final Thoughts and Individual Entries
Jay:
Overall, this project was a very fun experience. It gave us an opportunity to bring up creative ideas to the drawing board, such as the structure of the egg capsule. It also gave us an opportunity to be creative with the theme of this project. As you can see while browsing this website, the theme of our group revolved around war and its effects. All the way from The Briefing to the Individual Entries, the COG stood by as a fictional family, bringing us four group members together and setting up this semester-long adventure. This project required teamwork, and I think that our group gave its best efforts to contributing. We tried our best to communicate with others often, solve problems together, and constructing the entire pod together. Throughout Operation Gamma 27EGG*, I thought of multiple ideas, created most of the diagrams, helped out with construction, and helped input information into the website. In the end, I think that a project similar to this would be very fun to do again in the future.
Vithun:
This project, Operation Gamma 27EGG* was very successful, as our group completed both egg trials without any trouble. The project was very fun and with all the co-operation between all our group members, the project turned out to be a success. All of the group members finished their assigned task and the project went great. My role in the project included the website design, elements and reasons, and the creation of a blog. It was great to see our hard work pay off. One down, and many more to go!
Rahul:
Operation Gamma 27EGG* turned out to be a huge success and why wouldn't it be? With an inspired and hard working group, building the landing capsule was an easy task. All of our group members completed their assigned roles on time with a high degree of understanding. I had a lot of fun working on the landing capsule. It was exciting testing out different types of designs to see if they worked. My role in the project was to edit some videos, bring materials, and work on the website introduction page. We split up the work fairly so nobody would be left with too much work. I can't wait to start on the rocket project now! :)
Maarij:
This assignment had an endless list of possibilities for creation and exploration. We enjoyed the openness to the criteria, where we could pretty much create anything as long as it met some essential guidelines (involving low volume, low mass, and fast falling time). The RubixSponge mostly fit this criteria, although we quickly realized that our volume was bigger than most other groups. Our low mass and average falling time seemed to compensate for this, however. I am proud of the way my group worked together and took on various roles that fit our strengths, which is essentially the point of group work! My jobs included brainstorming designs, website editing, and the final capsule construction. Generating creative and diverse ideas seemed to fit my strengths, and our group could complement each other based on what we did. We ultimately created a website and a very creative plot that seems to parallel our project in a parallel universe eradicating evil, which seems pretty darn cool to me! I really enjoyed this last week and was amazed at how different and profound every group's capsule was, showing the unique productions that arose from scratch.
Overall, this project was a very fun experience. It gave us an opportunity to bring up creative ideas to the drawing board, such as the structure of the egg capsule. It also gave us an opportunity to be creative with the theme of this project. As you can see while browsing this website, the theme of our group revolved around war and its effects. All the way from The Briefing to the Individual Entries, the COG stood by as a fictional family, bringing us four group members together and setting up this semester-long adventure. This project required teamwork, and I think that our group gave its best efforts to contributing. We tried our best to communicate with others often, solve problems together, and constructing the entire pod together. Throughout Operation Gamma 27EGG*, I thought of multiple ideas, created most of the diagrams, helped out with construction, and helped input information into the website. In the end, I think that a project similar to this would be very fun to do again in the future.
Vithun:
This project, Operation Gamma 27EGG* was very successful, as our group completed both egg trials without any trouble. The project was very fun and with all the co-operation between all our group members, the project turned out to be a success. All of the group members finished their assigned task and the project went great. My role in the project included the website design, elements and reasons, and the creation of a blog. It was great to see our hard work pay off. One down, and many more to go!
Rahul:
Operation Gamma 27EGG* turned out to be a huge success and why wouldn't it be? With an inspired and hard working group, building the landing capsule was an easy task. All of our group members completed their assigned roles on time with a high degree of understanding. I had a lot of fun working on the landing capsule. It was exciting testing out different types of designs to see if they worked. My role in the project was to edit some videos, bring materials, and work on the website introduction page. We split up the work fairly so nobody would be left with too much work. I can't wait to start on the rocket project now! :)
Maarij:
This assignment had an endless list of possibilities for creation and exploration. We enjoyed the openness to the criteria, where we could pretty much create anything as long as it met some essential guidelines (involving low volume, low mass, and fast falling time). The RubixSponge mostly fit this criteria, although we quickly realized that our volume was bigger than most other groups. Our low mass and average falling time seemed to compensate for this, however. I am proud of the way my group worked together and took on various roles that fit our strengths, which is essentially the point of group work! My jobs included brainstorming designs, website editing, and the final capsule construction. Generating creative and diverse ideas seemed to fit my strengths, and our group could complement each other based on what we did. We ultimately created a website and a very creative plot that seems to parallel our project in a parallel universe eradicating evil, which seems pretty darn cool to me! I really enjoyed this last week and was amazed at how different and profound every group's capsule was, showing the unique productions that arose from scratch.